Drive-through Nativity to mark 9th year at Concordia Lutheran

Updated 2:07 am, Saturday, December 8, 2012

Little elves from Concordia Lutheran Church are baking thousands of cookies, stuffing them into holiday-themed baggies and storing them at its North Side campus.

Next weekend is the church's live, drive-through Nativity.

The goodies take the edge off of waiting in line for a turn along the 10-display, interactive route.

Allergic to nuts? No problem. There are non-nut-cookie bags.

Brought the family dog? Also no problem. Volunteers dish out canine treats.

The North Side megachurch describes the event as a gift to the community based on the biblical Christmas story.

Dozens of volunteers and weeks of planning go into enriching the experience, free to the public and involving only one church overture, the handing out of small cards with its weekend service schedule.

For religious skeptics and believers alike, the event welcome in anyone from the suburban-heavy side of town.

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“We've got a lot of neighborhoods around us, but people don't want to be bombarded,” said Greg Styles, the church's executive director. “It's never our goal to take someone away from their home church, but there are a lot of people who don't have a church. It's an easy evangelism tool.”

The church's Nativity is in its ninth year at its landmark campus whose illuminated, tower cross stands at Loop 1604 and Huebner Road.

A giant searchlight and the church's worship band playing on stage outside will attempt to generate more attention onto the spectacle.

Concordia Lutheran is known for organizing large-scale, free events throughout the year from its massive egg hunt and Easter pageant to its popular, vacation Bible school in the summer.

Live Nativities are traditional for many churches historically, but this drive-through rendition reveals a contemporary twist: the comfort of staying in the car. Besides the cookies, volunteers also hand out CDs with tracks providing narration timed to each outdoor set.

Teams of actors, from infants playing baby Jesus to retirees playing wise men — combine with donkeys, goats and other creatures to recreate the story. The route winds around the church parking lot to a gravel road and along a hillside.

More Information

Stay in your ride

WHAT: a free, CD-narrated, 10-set re-enactment of the biblical Christmas story along a drive-through route

WHEN: 5-9 p.m., Dec. 15-16

WHERE: Concordia Lutheran Church, Loop 1604 and Huebner Road.

INFORMATION: www.concordialutheranchurch.com, 210-479-1477

Church volunteers have ample opportunity to contribute beyond the spotlight of an acting bit.

Parking attendants, security, costume fitting and prop assembly call for nontraditional ministry skills, a relief for 78-year-old Charlie Matthys, who described his theatrical know-how as “terrible.”

“I like to do things with my hands and carpentry work, and so I got involved,” said Matthys, a retired special agent for the IRS who builds sets. “It just really brings the Christmas story to life for me.”

For other families, the Nativity is now rooted in their yearly Christmas tradition.

“I can't think of us doing anything else at Christmas except providing a three-dimensional opportunity to hear the story of Jesus,” said Kathy Entzenberger, whose husband and two children are regulars. “We started it as a fun thing and way to give to our church. Now, we schedule our vacation around it.”

Entzenberger's role is to transition cast members to sets. She stations herself in the church gym, a headquarters for dozens of actors. They dress into costumes, put on makeup and stand ready to assume shifts.

Her job of timing and logistics can get hectic. There are three Mary actors — one in early pregnancy, another near full term and one post-delivery. There are wise men — whose elaborate garb fosters their role as regal and self-important — and angels decked out in white.

The scene of 21st-century people re-enacting the 2,000-year-old story provides fresh inspiration each year, she said.

“Sometimes it brings tears to my eyes to realize that Jesus, who was born so long ago, is part of our lives today,” Entzenberger said.